Let's Build a Garage!
by Sarge Abernathy
Summary: Donatello has finally gotten his wish to build a garage, but can he convince his brothers to help him?


**Title**: "Let's Build a Garage!"

**Author**: Sarge Abernathy (Mark Abernathy)

**Genre**: Comedy

**Characters**: Donatello

**Summary**: Donatello has finally gotten his wish to build a garage, but can he convince his brothers to help him?

**Disclaimer**: Characters belong to whatever company has ownership of TMNT currently. I think its Nickelodeon this decade. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird are the original creators.

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**Prologue**:

If Leonardo hadn't wisely grabbed Raphael's arm then the highly reactive turtle would've thrown his sai at the approaching intruder bursting through their lair door.

Leonardo returned Raphael's volatile face with a calm stare. _There's nothing to worry about_, he seemed to communicate with his eyes. _Its just April._

Sure enough an auburn haired woman with crumpled papers in her fist furiously fought for breaths of air as she wobbled into their kitchen, having ran to the lair from the manhole entrance ten blocks away. Her eyes locked on Leonardo who gave her a small smile. He knew those frantic clumsy footfalls had been her. He recognized the running pattern well enough by now. She ran like a lunatic dog excited about raw meat, but of course Leonardo would never tell her this.

"Hello, April. What's up? Thought you'd be manning the store." The turtle leader asked.

Raphael, growling, put one sai back into his belt. Raphael could cuss at Michelangelo for getting crazy any day of the week, but the red masked turtle would never raise his voice at April.

"Where's Donnie?" April gasped. "Where is he? Where? Where? _Where_!" she shouted with the largest smile Leo seen in weeks.

"In his laboratory. What could b—" Leonardo couldn't finish. April sprinted to the other side of the lair, swinging open Don's door and yelling frantically in that shrill valley girl squeal that Raphael despised.

"Jesus." Raphael sneered to himself as he stabbed his sandwich with his other sai. "Calm down." He held up his weapon and started to chew at his food.

"Real civilized, Raph." Leo chided, staring at the whole roast beef sandwich on his weapon.

Raph belched before frowning in confusion. "What?"

Amused at her fervent energy, Donatello reacted much like Leonardo as he watched the nonsensical April.

". . .They _CAVED_! They were so sour! God I think I have my own enemies now! They wanted it for the stupid renovation! (Jesus, I can't breathe.) Oh God, it was so funny Don! They wouldn't call me by my first name during the meeting at the realtor's. Kept calling me a "Manhattan Citizen" or some stupid crap like that!" she belted out incoherently.

"April?" Don swiveled his chair to face her directly instead of looking over his shoulder.

"You said you needed a drill? I can get you a drill if you need it. Casey says he can get one!"

"April." Don tried again, frowning.

"Imagine that! I don't care where Casey gets a drill. I'd take a drill from the Foot if they were generous enough. You think Casey would be mad if I asked him to buy a new one? Could use one around here." April looked behind her at the living room with the badly cracked concrete floor that seemed to be collapsing inward.

"April!" Don shouted.

"Oh, Donnie! Holy Jesus n' hell I ran way too fast! My heart is beating fast. I can't believe I got it! I can't believe I got it!" she jumped several times.

"SHUT UP!" Raphael screamed from across the room.

Donatello smirked as April turned around and watched Leonardo beginning to beat Raphael's head and lecturing him. This eventually led to a return jab and the two began to fight. It would probably ruin yet another set of dining chairs that, like the toaster and the living room recliner, seem to have a high turn over rate.

"April. What's up?" Don smiled. Cursing began to get louder, but they were far enough away from the kitchen to not have to raise their own voices.

"I got the building." She smiled.

"What building?" Don asked as he turned his attention to his computer monitor to save the program he had been working on.

"_The_ building, Don." April stressed and stared at him for a reaction.

Don frowned at April's gleeful face and wondered what the hell she could be babbling about. He started to play through his mind the possibilities. Did she need a new location for the _Second Time Around_? No, she enjoyed the shop too much and it proved to be a decent location. Perhaps she wanted to move? The apartment upstairs from her store had been adequate, but the electrical wasn't completely up to date and the rooms lost more heat during the winter then they should. Still, those were things that he promised he'd get to eventually. She could be talking about the building above the south entrance of the la-.

Don's eyes suddenly went big. "You …"

April nodded, squeaking her excitement through a bright smile.

"You got the abandoned grocery market on Mott Street?" he wheezed, hardly believing it.

She nodded and started to dance in place like a deranged Peanuts character. Donatello sat in silence. He couldn't move. He wouldn't move. This obviously is a wonderful dream that he would wake up from any moment. He didn't even flinch as the shattering of a kitchen chair with two teenage turtles on top dragged an old rat out of his bedroom.

"You got the …" Don repeated slowly, then lowered his eyes from April's face and catatonically stared off into space for a few moments. "HOLY HELL, YES!" Don shouted jumping to his feet and grabbing April, twirling her around. She squealed in surprise and started to laugh along with him. "HOLY GOD YES! OH THANK YOU APRIL! THANK YOU!" Don cried, squeezing tightly.

"Careful! I'm still sore from that Foot attack weeks ago!" April chided, and Donatello put her down, apologizing several times through quick breaths.

"Oh April! How? How did … they were going to renovate Mott Street! I gave up on that place!" he could feel the eyes of his father and brothers as they listened in on them, but his own eyes were close to tears.

"The neighborhood got up in arms about the renovation. It would've brought a lot more traffic to the neighborhood than originally thought and the contractors wanted to tear down several of the historical buildings. I slipped into the negotiations, got my name mixed around, talked with the realtors, and managed to snag the place when they voted to reverse the renovation." She smiled.

Don hastily grabbed the forms from April's hands, reading over the fine print of the deed and seeing her name at the bottom of the form legally declared her owner of the building. "I had to push it though. I kept bringing up the traffic issue. That helped get the neighborhood really mad, and I also brought it up privately with several committee chairmen. Eventually they sided with the neighborhood. God, Don … those businessmen from the renovation looked like they wanted kill me!"

Don laughed and then hugged April again, careful not to squeeze too tightly this time.

"What's this?" Leonardo asked, rubbing his arms where a couple bruises had appeared.

Donatello ignored him. "April, how could you afford … you shouldn't have done this. It was only a fantasy … a wish."

"Stop that Don. You know very well it's more than a wish. You've got schematics for it." April waved her finger at him.

"April, you SHOULDN'T have." Donatello stressed.

"It was nothing Don, I want you guys to have this."

"No, April. You _SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE THIS_. How much did that building cost? We're talking about real estate in Manhattan! Why would you …?"

"I didn't have to. No body wanted the building. It's value dropped to a livable 8-year loan Donnie. And I've been doing well enough at the antique store; I can have it paid off in five years. It won't be a problem. I just paid off the mortgage at the Farm, so it's no biggie! I swear!" she pleaded. "You need this! You said so yourself!"

Donatello's hands shook as he looked down at the deed. "Eight year..." he bit his lip.

"I can pay it off in five years! I'll compromise with you Donnie. If you want to help pay for it in some legit way I'll let you. Please! I know that look! I know that regret! Don't have second thoughts about this, you've wanted it for so long!" April grabbed his hands and looked at him straight in the eye in a way that melted his heart. He would've agreed to anything for April's smile.

"I'm sorry, but what are we talking about? Why is Donny getting a grocery store?" Leonardo asked, but Splinter had a scowl on his face.

"Donatello, is this the project you described to me several times before?" Splinter asked with a cruel tone in his voice.

Donatello swallowed, and April suddenly felt very self-conscious. Master Splinter did not appear to be happy and already the two could feel their joy being sucked away.

"Yes, father." Don swallowed in fear.

"Donatello you know my expressed reservations about such an undertaking. It's too risky and liable to get us caught. I've warned you not to get too wrapped up and involved in such a fantasy." Splinter scowled.

"But, Master …" Don looked ready to cry as his brothers frowned in confusion, still unable to comprehend what the conversation could be about.

"Ms. O'Neil, you've made a brash decision. The building is of no use if we cannot safely gain access to it in such a way that Donatello proposes. I sincerely hoped you would've thought this through and not wasted your time." Splinter chided. April's mouth hung open and the turtles were speechless. Never had their father berated either April or Casey. They were not his children and he generally left their lives alone.

"Brash?" April started, choking on the words.

"Donatello, I do not wish to hear any more on this. I forbid you from …" Splinter started, but April interrupted with fury in her eyes.

"I wouldn't have been so "brash" if I didn't trust Donatello to think through every detail about how to keep his family safe!"

"Would you have gone through it if you had known I disapproved?" Splinter shot back.

"Splinter, he researched every inch of earth! He knows every pipe in this sewer! Even pipes that have been decommissioned decades ago! He knows the purpose of every knob and every stone! Hell, I tried to convince him to buy the building on Elizabeth Street, but he knew that the support wasn't there! He wanted this building because he knew it would be SAFE."

Splinter strained to hold his tongue. "Ms. O'Neil…"

"I scoped out the building myself for weeks! We know that building inside out and he's got the right idea about it leading out to the back road where no one would bother looking. I argued with him about this, but he convinced me that he could do it safely!"

"Ms. O'Neil." Splinter growled from his teeth. His sons were tense. The building friction between the two scared them.

"He's even proved that it would be safer for the lair! We'd have one easy access! The building is ten whole blocks away! It's too much of a walk for anyone dumb enough to wander in! They'd get lost trying to find us!"

"April. You're so not helping." Donatello muttered, but the fiery woman ignored him.

"We could get rid of half the entrances we use! And the access would allow us to get larger items into this lair without having to disassemble them to get through a manhole!"

"SILENCE WOMAN!" Splinter shouted rather crossly.

April's eyes had never been larger. Donatello grabbed his mouth in shock. Leonardo stared at his father as if lobotomized. Raphael started to whimper in embarrassment.

"Oh, You. Did Not. Just. Say. _That_." April growled.

Splinter's ears twitched and he scowled at April until his defenses broke down and he hung his ears in immense regret.

"I apologize, Ms. O'Neil, but there is not one thing you could say that would convince me." Splinter stood steadfast.

April took a moment staring at Splinter with fierce determination. She folded her arms and let a small smile creep to the corner of her mouth. "You can finally get a foot clawed tub in here."

"Bribing does not work on me, Ms. O'Neil, especially if you do not know what to bribe me with. It is insulting." Splinter scoffed.

"A working refrigerator." April suggested.

"The one we have is perfectly fine." Splinter frowned.

"The one we have is three mini-fridges stacked one on top of the other." Leonardo chuckled, but suddenly lost his voice when his father shot him a dirty look.

Running out of options April kicked the ground and looked away in defeat. Leonardo bit his lip and unnecessarily whispered his apologies to her for the entire argument. Raphael leaned over and started to rub her shoulders.

Donatello, taking a moment to size up his father's stature and current emotion, finally piped up. "We could fit a 55 inch television in here."

The rat's head popped up, his ears forward, and he looked at Donatello with sudden interest.

"You could see your stories and not have to squint." Don smiled.

The rat blinked several times. He didn't say anything for nearly 30 seconds.

"Young and the Restless." Donatello grinned.

"Days of Our Lives." April continued.

"General Hospital." Leonardo rocked on his heels, catching the pattern.

"Uh … um" Raph swallowed hard and looked off to his side. "Fear … Factor?"

Donatello turned to give his brother one of those condescending _Seriously?_ looks.

"Shut up." Raphael snorted. "I don't watch daytime TV."

Splinter looked directly into Donatello's eyes. "You sure there won't be any complications?"

Donatello smiled, realizing he won. "Thank you, Father!" He grabbed the old rat and squeezed tightly. The rat merely exhaled from the tight hug, rolling his eyes as April started to cheer again.

"Guys?" a groggy voice muttered from the stairway. "What're you all yelling about?"

Michelangelo walked down slowly, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "I could seriously hear you dudes. It's like, not cool. I'm tryin' to sleep."

"It's 5 in the afterno—" April started.

"Don't, April. Don't. He knew perfectly well that all night monster marathons would do this. No sympathy for him, please." Leonardo commanded and April laughed.

"I'm sorry, but what in the HELL did Master Splinter just okay? You ain't giving any straight answers." Raphael fumed.

"I'm glad you asked Raphael!" Donatello smiled smugly, and instantly his three brothers began to groan. They knew that tone, and they knew what it meant for them. "We're going to build a _garage_!"


End file.
